Length:

27 km

Termini:

Eastern: Warrego Hwy (A2), Postmans Ridge

Western: Warrego Hwy (A2) and Gore Hwy (A39), Charlton

Suburbs, Towns & Localities Along Route:

Postmans Ridge, Withcott, Redwood, East Toowoomba, Toowoomba, Harristown, New Town, Wilsonton and Torrington

Current: A21

Multiplexed with: A3

Former: A2 A2 54 54

Road Authority Internal Classification: ¹

18A (Postmans Ridge to Toowoomba)

18B (Toowoomba to Torrington)

General Information:

A21 is the former Warrego Highway route through Toowoomba.

Once forming part of the main route linking Brisbane to the Northern Territory, A21 is the untolled east-west route over the Toowoomba Range. It services residential, rural, commercial and light industrial areas, as well as the Toowoomba Aerodrome.

A3 (New England Highway), for 400 m, Toowoomba.

1849: Surveyor J.C. Burnett found a better route to the north to replace the road from Brisbane over the Toowoomba Range (via Gormans Gap, south of the city). This new route was to later become Toll Bar Road. ²

1853: A gang of twelve workers cleared and constructed a better road along the route of what would become Toll Bar Road. ²

January 1855: Toll Bar Road opens. A simple gatehouse was erected at the top of the range, near the current intersection of Ipswich and Curtis Streets in Toowoomba. A bar crossing the road and a fence either side stopped traffic and enabled toll collection of approximately two pence. Toll Bar Road consisted of a rough stone pavement on very steep grades. As the road was unsealed and very steep, with grades as much as 14%, it was subject to severe scouring during heavy rains. ²

13 December 1921: Brisbane-Toowoomba Road was declared a Main Road under the Main Roads Act, 1920. ²

24 September 1932: The Main Roads Commission proclaimed the Toll Bar Road a State Highway when it became part of the Lockyer-Darling Downs Highway. ²

1938: A major upgrade of the range road took place. The most significant change was to the uppermost section, with the new route reaching the top of the range further north. ²

December 1939: Work to upgrade the range road completed. ²

29 January 1940: A two-lane bitumen Toowoomba range road was formally opened by the Honourable H.A. Bruce, Minister for Public Works, MLA. The new range road was a vast improvement on the old Toll Bar Road as it provided a 6.1 m wide bitumen surfaced pavement over a length of 3.7 km and climbed a total height of 350 m. The average rate of climb was nearly 9%, although the actual grades varied between 7.5% and 10.5% with the exception of a short flattening in the vicinity of a saddle which had become known as "Essex Evans" due to the fact that the poet George Essex Evans (1863-1909) once resided at this location. ²

1964: The Main Roads Department commenced the duplication of the road at an estimated cost of £185 000. By 1964 the traffic volume had reached 2300 vehicles per day, of which approximately 500 were heavy trucks and semi-trailers. The alignment of the upgrading project was along the existing road from the foot of the range proper to the saddle at Essex Evans. However, an entirely new up-lane from Essex Evans to the top was constructed on the southern side of the existing road. The new up-lane was slightly longer, with improved horizontal and vertical alignment and an increased width of 7.3 m. The basic route used by Toowoomba Connection Road today, has remained unaltered since 1940. ²

2004: Warrego Highway (NH54) renumbered to A2 under the QMR Strategic Tourism Routes plan. ³

2019: Signage installed for A21 at Postmans Ridge.

8 September 2019: Toowoomba Range Second Crossing completely open to traffic. Officially retiring Warrego Highway from the route through the Toowoomba CBD.

Postmans Ridge to Charlton

NEW Reassurance Directional Sign:

Distance sign at Postmans Ridge, after the Warrego Hwy (A2) interchange, January 2019.

Image © Dean Sherry

¹ QLD Government, Department of Transport and Main Roads, The State Road Network of Queensland map, 30 June 2022.
² QLD Government, Department of Transport and Main Roads, Queensland Roads, Edition No 5, (Toowoomba Range Tunnels Report), March 2008.
³ QLD Government, Department of Transport and Main Roads, Strategic Tourism Routes Revision 12.

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